Moses Abbott was born around 1840 in Vermont to Adams and Elizabeth Elliott His father was a farmer who owned $4,500 of real estate and $2,000 of personal property. He grew up and attended school in Troy, Vermont. He enlisted in the Union army on September 4, 1861, and he mustered in as a corporal in Company D of the 6th Vermont Infantry on October 15. He was eventually promoted to sergeant. The regiment took part in the Battle of Williamsburg, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Battle of Gettysburg. He married Arianna Kenniston on April 12, 1863. He died three months later, on July 10, 1863, in Funkstown, Maryland.